Valentine's Roses
by LadyLionhart
Summary: Even the warmest of gestures may be made entirely of ice… A short and sweet Valentine's Day themed one-shot for my favourite couple! [Jack x Elsa]


**Summary:** Even the warmest of gestures may be made entirely of ice… A short and sweet Valentine's Day themed one-shot for my favourite couple! [Jack x Elsa]

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Rise of the Guardians, the Guardians of Childhood or Frozen. They are owned, respectively, by Dreamworks, William Joyce, and Disney. This fanfiction was written out of love for the orginal works, and is purely for entertainment purposes. I'm not making money by writing this fanfiction, nor am I profiting from it in any way.

**Author's Note:** The information on Valentine's Day in this fanfic is a mixture of history and my own imagination. So just accept it as is and don't take it as a historical fact. This is fanfiction after all…

Please note that I have not read the Guardians of Childhood books (though I have researched a bit), and thus Jack's personality and history is a mixture from the movie and my own ideas and interpretation. I made him 19 years old in this story, so he looks a little older than in the movie.

This fanfiction was written especially for everyone who has left a review on my story Snowflakes among Stars. I hope you guys like it! :)

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**Valentine's Roses**

**by LadyLionhart**

_When the night has been too lonely  
And the road has been too long,  
And you think that love is only  
For the lucky and the strong,  
Just remember in the winter  
Far beneath the bitter snows  
Lies the seed that with the sun's love  
In the spring becomes the rose._

_\- _The Rose, Bette Midler

* * *

"Saint Valentine's day, huh? Why isn't there a Jack Frost day?"

He tilted his silver head, azure hues dancing up from the book resting on his right knee, to where Elsa was sitting at his left side, her back leaning against the sofa's legs. They were settled on the floor of the library, books and papers spread out all around them as they continued in their endeavour of teaching him how to read and write.

"Well… are you a saint, Jack?" she asked, a smile playing on her lips as she turned the page of her own book.

He quirked a teasing grin at her. "Anything but…"

Amusement flickered across her face. "Then you have your answer."

Jack smirked, his gaze dropping back down to the tome in front of him. Out of the corner of his eye, he subtly watch her reaction. "So is this day important or something?"

He could see her hesitate before she answered, the nonchalance slipping effortlessly into her tone. "Oh… well, in a sense. Hundreds of years ago, Saint Valentine's Emperor had made a law of forbidding young men to get married, because he'd believed that men without families would make better soldiers. It is told that Saint Valentine had defied this law and continued to marry couples… He is believed to have been born on the 14th of February, thus his birthday became Valentine's Day, in honour of his bravery. Over time, the day had become associated with spring… So it is a holiday where we celebrate spring's return, and the freedom of being able to choose whom we… love."

She paused, her eyes fixed upon a single spot on the page. Then, she quickly added, "In any case, there will be festivities in the city tomorrow… And for tomorrow night, Anna and I'd arranged to have a ball. Nothing especially grand, it'll only be a few people…"

Amused, he watched her until her gaze eventually returned to his. "So, am I invited?"

Rosy lips smiled before her hues dropped back down to her book. "Of course, Jack."

* * *

After they said goodnight, Jack did not immediately leave the castle grounds. Instead, he soared across the palace towards the other side. There he stopped outside a closed balcony, finding only a single candle flickering from within. Knocking on the glass, he hovered in place while he waited.

The balcony door creaked open, and Anna's wide green gaze peered up at him. "So! What did she say?" she asked curiously, opening the door wide enough for Jack to come inside.

He stepped into her bedroom and turned to face the redhead. "Just that it's a holiday that celebrates spring and love… But you know Elsa. She wasn't about to tell me it's one of her favourite days of the year."

Anna giggled softly before sighing. "I guess we should have known… but okay, even without any hint from her, I know you can come up with something she'll like-"

"Well…" he rubbed the back of his neck, lips quirked into a half-smile. "I do have an idea. _Not_ quite sure how we're going to pull it off though."

Anna clapped her hands together and smiled brightly. "Oh, tell me!"

He let out a breathy chuckle as he began explaining what he had in mind. When he finished, Anna grinned widely and a dreamy look passed over her features. "Jack, she's going to _love_ it. Now, I think I have an idea how you can get her out of the ballroom tomorrow night…"

Smiling, she beckoned him to follow her out into the hallway. "But first, we're going to need a tiny bit of help."

* * *

Elsa's gaze trailed after the couple drifting over the dancefloor. Anna's deep-pink dress flared out as Kristoff spun her in a circle, before he lightly pulled her back against his chest. The crown of violet and white flowers decorating Anna's loose red tresses - matching the boutonniere on Kristoff's jacket – balanced precariously upon her head, and the young man quickly reached out to gently shift it back in place.

They looked so happy and carefree that Elsa could only watch, her heart filling with glee as her sister laughed and joked with the man at her side.

Earlier in the afternoon, when they'd all gone down to the city to partake in the festivities and peruse the market stalls, Kristoff had presented Anna with a Valentine's Day gift. It was a necklace that held a pendant in the shape of a swan – but it was carved from the most exquisite, luminous turquoise crystal that gave off the faintest glow when held in the sunlight. The Trolls had helped him to make it, he'd said, and it was meant to have healing properties, but at that stage Anna hadn't been listening anymore and had embraced him in a tight hug.

Now the jewel lay shimmering upon her pale skin, the colour looking lovely against the pink of her dress.

Elsa let out a soft sigh, her eyes traveling across the rest of the beautiful grand hall. There were flower garlands decorating the high walls and the sides of the long buffet tables; their lovely scent mingling with the delicious smells of the evening meal. Many of the elder guests had gathered around the refreshments while most of the young people were dancing to the romantic, cheerful music flowing from the orchestra set up in the back of the Grand Hall.

She stood alone at the top of the dais, hands clasped in front of her. For her ball gown, she'd chosen a creation of burgundy silk, and her hair was hanging down her back in soft curls. Anna had made her the crown of white crocuses that adorned her snowy head, their sweet scent surrounding her like perfume.

Everything was perfect, and she'd had the loveliest day.

But, she could not help but feel the tiniest traces of regret.

Not once, for the entire day had she seen Jack.

And she longed to lay her eyes upon his silver hair and brilliant smile… to see his ice-blue eyes fixed upon her…

Of course she knew that he had more than enough to occupy himself with – and this would not be the first time that she had not seen him for a whole day or even longer – but somehow, she'd hoped…

Another soft sigh escaped her lips, and she was about to go join Anna and Kristoff who were now taking a break at the refreshments table, when she felt a feather light tug at her dress.

Glancing down, she found Olaf at her side, grinning up at her. He was also wearing a flower crown that Anna had made for him, his consisting of a wide arrangements of colours and different kinds of blooms.

"Elsa! There's something I need to show you… but we need to go outside."

She smiled, tilting her head at him. "Oh? Now I'm curious."

"Well come on then!" he exclaimed happily and began bouncing off. Elsa chuckled, gave a quick glance over her shoulder and then proceeded to follow the snowman out of the Hall. They made their way through the corridors and out of a side door that led into a small courtyard.

"What did you want to show me Olaf?"

He shuffled to a stop, turned to face her and then pointed ahead with his stick fingers. "It's there by the statue."

Elsa blinked, a delicate frown dipping between her brows. Ahead, there was a stone statue positioned in a niche in the wall. It was a figure of a woman with long, flowing hair and flowers clasped in her one hand - but in her other hand, Elsa's eyes caught sight of something that was definitely not part of the statue itself…

"Olaf, what-"

She turned to face the snowman, only to find that he was no longer at her side.

Gaze slipping back to the statue, she studied the object clasped in the woman's hand. At first glance, she thought it was made of glass, but when she looked closer, she realized that it was made entirely of ice.

Her heart skipped a beat.

Slowly reaching out, she carefully took the film of ice in her hands.

Upon its smooth surface, there were words indented into the mirror-like sheet.

_Follow the frost._

As soon as she read those words, the ice dissolved into a puff of snowflakes that was swept away with the breeze, leaving only a breath of cold air to linger upon her skin.

Her wide gaze followed its fading flurry, to find that there had appeared a line of frost upon the ground – the trail was leading away from her, across the courtyard, to disappear through the gate on the opposite side. She could not contain the excitement suddenly flaring through her chest. Her feet began moving without a second thought, her lips parted slightly in wonder as she followed the marked way, deeper into the quiet, empty gardens. Here and there a lantern flickered, but as she travelled on into the quiet alcoves of the inner gardens, there was only the moonlight to guide her steps.

No one was around at this hour, and the only sound to be heard was the far-off din of the music and laughter floating up from the Grand Hall. Crickets chirped in the underbrush; an owl hooted from high above in the treetops.

She was alone, following the marked trial, until she passed through an archway-

And she froze in her steps, breath suspended in her throat.

All around her, sprouting from amongst the tended garden plots and climbing over ivy-covered walls, there were roses; translucent, shimmering roses, made entirely of frost and ice. They glittered like silver-blue diamonds, reflecting the moonlight like a thousand stars twinkling in the night sky.

A gasp fell from her lips, her entire being stunned by the beauty displayed before her eyes.

It was like something straight out of an ethereal fairy tale; each luminous petal beckoning further inspection. They looked as delicate as glass, as though they might shatter from the faintest breath, but still she could not refrain from reaching out to carefully trace her fingertip over one of the fragile leaves.

Her crystalline hues drank in the wondrous sight, feeling her heart flutter and dance as she stood in awe of the frosty blooms.

And then, she suddenly sensed _him_ standing behind her, a moment before he whispered next to her hair.

"I didn't know how many was the appropriate number to give… so I figured that a garden-full might do."

There was a hint of jest beneath his husky tone that sent shivers racing down her spine, her breath hitching softly in her throat. Before she could even respond, she felt the faintest touch along her jawline. Her eyes flickered down, to find a frosted rose brushing along her skin.

Without a sound, Jack moved so that they were face to face, and with his unwavering, vivid blue eyes locking with hers, he let the icy cold bloom caress her lips.

Her heart stopped.

The rose was entirely frozen, the colour of its petals lost beneath the frost.

But then, Jack slowly raised the frozen flower up to his mouth, and as it touched his lips, the frost burst into the air in a spray of snowflakes…

And beneath the snowy dust, there were the crimson petals of a magnificent red rose.

"Elsa…" he whispered, only the bloom he held between them separating his lips from hers. "Will you be my Valentine?"

"_Yes_," she breathed, and his low chuckle made her blood hum in response. He was so close she could study the stars reflecting in his iridescent eyes, their endless blue depths filled with such magnetizing intensity she hardly noticed when her fingers curled around the stem of the offered flower. Then, with her heart thundering against her ribs, he wrapped his arm around her waist to pull her flush against his chest. Dipping his silver head towards her, Jack softly pressed his icy lips against her forehead, while his fingers reached up to brush along her jaw until his cool palm lay gently against her cheek. Her long-lashed eyes fluttered close, her body melting against his, as he tenderly kissed each of her eyelids, then the tip of her nose… and when his cold breath fell against her lips, he murmured, "I think I can grow to like this day…"

Elsa laughed softly, the sweet scent of the rose hanging between them. "I already do."

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**Happy Valentine's Day! Reviews are love ;) xx If you're interested, you can find a link to a Pinterest board I made for this story on my profile!**


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